Thursday, 20 October 2016

The Wonder Trail: True Stories from Lost Angeles to the End of the World by Steve Hely

I checked out Steve Hely’s “The Wonder Trail: True Stories
from Lost Angeles to the End of the World” for a few reasons:

1. He’s a former staff writer for “30 Rock”, which
I think is one of the funniest North American sitcoms of all time;

2. Los Angeles is featured quite prominently in the
beginning and that is a city I’m visiting this coming fall;

3. I love traveling.

The book boasts (both on the back cover and inside) that it
is a book for those who love traveling and those who don’t, and I think that’s
actually a very fair statement. It’s a book that reminded me about everything
that is both wonderful and terrible when exploring the world: uncomfortable
linguistic mishaps, loneliness, and shiny new people with interesting stories,
overrated and underrated sights. It also features plenty of history, which Hely
presents alongside his anecdotes in short chapters. You don’t like history?
Skip those brief chapters and they won’t detract from the rest of the book.
Hely is sharply observant, and while some of his yarns ring slightly
self-indulgent, I appreciated the colloquial, relatable way he presents them.

This is a very personal book. Hely knows you can read more
technically detailed books elsewhere, so his aim seems to be more about giving
an idea of a place alongside a story that demonstrates what he did for fun
while visiting. His suggestions for what to do at Machu Picchu, for example,
include: “Take stuff in and out of your backpack. Saw a lot of people doing
this one. I did it plenty myself…Explore…Feed an apple to a Ilama.”

If
you like your educational information with a side of funny personal essay, this
book is for you. If you like your funny personal essay with a side of
educational information, this is also going to be a happy read. If you want an
impartial travel guide with lists of five-star accommodations and local
culinary delights, perhaps choose a different book from our travel guide
section.